A Nonconformist divine, Nehemiah Grew (1641-1712) was educated at Cambridge before receiving his medical degree at Leiden in 1671 for a study of the "liquor of the nerves." As early as 1664, Grew began to study plant anatomy and physiology, transmitting his essay The anatomy of vegetables begun to the Royal Society in 1670 through Bishop John Wilkins. Published in 1672, the essay includes the fruits of Grew's microscopic painstaking studies of the tissues and organs of plants.

A contemporary of Ray, Hooke, and Boyle, Grew attained the pinnacle of scientific success in early modern England, becoming secretary of the Royal Society and editor of its Philosophical Transactions. SCUA also holds copies of his important The Anatomy of Plants (London, 1682).